Help America Vote Act

About the Help America Vote Act

The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) is an item of United States federal election law signed into law by President Bush October 29, 2002. Under HAVA, a new federal voter registration form was created. HAVA guarantees the ability of individuals to cast a provisional ballot and have the validity of their registration checked later if they do not appear on voter registration rolls.

For more information, visit the Colorado Secretary of State's HAVA website.

With the passing of this law, Colorado law now requires:

States to provide provisional ballots for voters whose registration status is unclear when they arrive to vote or who do not have acceptable ID.

States to provide a way for those with impaired vision or hearing to cast a secret ballot.

States to make polling locations and voting machines accessible to voters with physical disabilities

Voting machines to allow voters to verify ballots before they are cast.

Voters be able to correct a mistake or leave a blank - i.e., not cast a vote in a particular contest

Voters systems to leave a record that can be audited.

Voting systems leave a permanent paper record that can be used as an official record should a recount become necessary

That states, in some cases, provide ballots for voters who don't speak English.

State to create and maintain electronic vote registration databases and improve efforts to remove ineligible voters from the registration rolls.

State to offer sample ballots for voters to review before the date of the election.

Absentee voters to provide copies of IDs or an ID number for voter verification, but state must maintain the secrecy of the vote.